One of our Newf's about 7 years ago tore her ACL and we went the surgery route for her. There was a lot of down time for her, lucky for us she was a typical Newf that just liked to lay around a lot anyway. After surgery you have to make sure the dog has the time to heal so if you have a hyper dog a crate is going to be your solution and leash walks only. If your dog has a tendency to jump and get excited on the leash train for proper walking now instead of waiting till after the surgery.

With one of our current Newf's Dylan our Vet gave us the option of a brace instead of surgery. The brace was cheaper, plus there is no down time. The dog can still do all their activities while recuperating (for a Newf, if you do agility and sport then no they won't be able to do normal activities). Dylan can still go for hikes with his brace on, he did not have to be crated, he can run and play.

Currently we are doing hydrotherapy with him. He is on a good glucosamine supplement and always has been. He is also getting flexxil which is an excellent supplement/anti inflammatory. He gets some acupressure and massage as well. He seems to be healing quite nicely and the Vet is quite impressed. A lady from another dog forum I belong to went with a brace before our Newf ruptured his ACL and she too had success and she has a sporting breed so not laid back like a Newf

Abby has been doing really well with her recovery so far, I'm very proud of her

She got her cast off last Tuesday, and the vet was surprised that she immediately started using it with only a very mild limp. He said that she's looking better than 99% of the dogs he sees that close to their surgery. I'm still restricting her from running, jumping, and rough housing with the other dog and ferrets for the time being though. It's been exhausting for me, and a bit frustrating for her but she's doing so well I think it's only a matter of time until she can play and use the stairs on her own again. We go back in a few more days to have her stitches taken out and to discuss her therapy. The doc told me last week that since she's already dealing with it so well that therapy may end up being as simple as taking her for some short walks